Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerSometimes Martin Brodeur is also lucky -- he was able to sweep this close call away from the goal line during the second period to keep his shutout in Game 5 going.

The best from the best. Is there any other way to describe this performance at the Rock Thursday night?

In a few years, when the hockey historians put together the highlights for this Hall of Fame career, they'll only need to grab the tape from this game.

Martin Brodeur did everything.

He made routine saves. He made dramatic saves. He made saves when he could see the puck and saves when he had no idea where it was and saves when he needed a little luck. He made so many in one third-period flurry, there was a moment when it felt like the entire crowd had stopped breathing.

The Devils needed every last stop. They defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 1-0, to take a 3-2 series lead. They can advance to the second round this weekend in Raleigh, N.C., and they can thank No. 30.

He made 44 saves, on top of the 42 he made in the Game 4 loss. To put that into context, when the Devils last won the Stanley Cup in 2003, Brodeur played 24 games and had to make more than 30 saves in a game just three times, and never had to make more than 40.

The goaltender on the other side of the ice, Cam Ward, was nearly his equal, making 41 saves. The NHL has done everything it can to get more scoring, but Game 5 proves that the puck does not have to go into the net a dozen times for a game to be thrilling.

This one was, in the words of former goalie and longtime announcer Chico Resch, "one of the greatest playoff games I've ever seen." It was that way because, from the moment fourth-line winger David Clarkson deflected home the lone goal 11:22 into the second period, you felt there was no possible way a one-goal lead could possible hold up with the way these two teams kept attacking.

Brodeur looked at the scoreboard clock with about 10 minutes left. He sized up his competing goaltender, who was turning away puck after puck, and came to a realization.

"All right, he doesn't look like he's getting weaker over there," he said. "I'm going to have to shut them down."

There was the big slap shot from Chad LaRose from point-blank range. There was the wrap-around from Rod Brind'Amour that nearly bounced through the crack between Brodeur's pad and the post.

There were the final, desperate chances from forward Erik Cole, and the way these playoff games have gone for the Devils against this team, the final seconds figured to be the toughest test.

Brodeur was beaten for the game-winner in Game 4 with just two-tenths of a second on the clock, angrily pounding his stick against the boards when the referees did not disallow the goal for interference. He had never shown that much emotion on the ice.

If there was any doubt about how he would respond, it was erased in the first period. LaRose collided with Brodeur as he tried to play the puck away from the crease, and Brodeur felt a pinch on his ankle. Somehow, through all the padding, LaRose's skate had sliced him.

But it ended up being just a scrape, and, of course, he did continue. His toughest save came midway through the second period, when a fluttering puck deflected past him and hit the post. It bounced toward Brodeur and off his pads.

"I knew it was coming back," he said. "I just had to be delicate in the way I was moving, being on my side like that."

It stopped an inch short of the goal line. It was that kind of night. Brodeur pitched his 23rd playoff shutout, tying Patrick Roy in a season in which he surpassed his former goaltending hero for the all-time win total. He did it on a night when the Devils badly needed his experience and stabilizing presence, when for long stretches of the game, they were not the best team.

He put the Devils in a position to advance this weekend, and when it ended, most of the sellout crowd stayed for the final curtain call. There would be no doubt who would skate out as the No. 1 star.

Brodeur appeared in a baseball cap and lifted one arm to the crowd, and the reaction was part ovation, part thank you, and maybe a little bit exhaustion. The goalie certainly could relate.

"Oh, I'm tired," he said as the locker room began to clear. He has another game in two days.